Guns N Roses Biography

The American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses was established in Los Angeles in 1985 by founding members Axl Rose, Rob Gardner, Ole Beich, Tracii Guns, and Izzy Stradlin. Beich, Guns, and Gardner left the group shortly after its inception, replaced by Duff McKagan, Slash, and Steve Adler, creating what is considered the “classic” lineup of the band.


Guns N’ Roses soon became a frequent performer on the club scene in Hollywood, garnering the interest of Geffen Records. By the mid 1980’s, Guns N’ Roses had signed with the label and entered the studio to prepare for a debut album. Appetite for Destruction was released in 1987 and brought Guns N’ Roses to immediate fame and critical acclaim. On the strength of the number one single “Sweet Child o’ Mine, the album rose to the top of the charts and spawned the additional hits “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Paradise City.” Appetite for Destruction rose to the number one spot on the charts and went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time in the United States and earned Guns N’ Roses three American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock single, Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Work Artist, and Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album.


Between 1988 and 1993, Guns N’ Roses released an additional four successful albums: G N’ R Lies (1988), Use Your Illusion (1991), Use Your Illusion II (1991), and The Spaghetti Incident (1993.) The albums gave audiences the additional hits: “Patience,” “Nightrain,” “You Could Be Mine,” “Don’t Cry,” “Live and Let Die,” “November Rain,” “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” “Yesterdays,” “Civil War,” “Ain’t It Fun,” and “Sympathy for the Devil.”


Since 1993, Guns N’ Roses has undergone multiple lineup changes, but emerged again in 2008 with the highly anticipated album Chinese Democracy. Since Chinese Democracy, Guns N’ Roses has toured extensively with the current lineup of Axl Rose, Dizzy Reed, Tommy Stinson, Chris Pitman, Richard Fortus, and Frank Ferrer. Today, Guns N’ Roses remains one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time. The band, with the original lineup, was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.